Nariko and Lake Shumarinai

I started to stop too, a bit upset that I wasn't allowed to finish the descent. I stopped near the little truck, Nariko hurriedly, without saying a word, pulled out a stack of money from her bag. There was 5000 yen. I was happy and reached for the dollars. — I just called my husband and told him about your trip, he started yelling at me, why didn't I help you. No, no, you can keep them for yourself. — Narika refused to take the dollars. That's how my problem was solved.

I arrived at the lake while it was still light. Set up my tent and went to look around. First of all, I was looking for an onsen.

— There's no onsen here, there's a shower. Where are you from? — a slightly drunk woman by a large tent pointed her finger up the mountain. — Oh, just like my ex-boyfriend. — She put her palm to her lips and peeked into the tent to check on her husband.

They've been vacationing at the lake for the second day. They got married in the USA, that's where their daughter was born too, a Japanese girl named Emily. I left them for a while.

The shower here looks like a space shuttle cabin. It consists of two compartments with plastic floor, ceiling and walls. In the first compartment, the changing room, you need to insert a 100 yen coin, then in the second compartment, the shower room, the number 5 lights up. This means I have five minutes to wash myself. I inserted the coin and remembered that I left my shampoo outside. I opened the shuttle door, and my five minutes were charged to the owners' account. You can't fool this electronics. I inserted another coin. Got undressed, went into the shower, pressed the "begin ablution" button. Water started flowing, but the light went out. After washing for five minutes in the dark, two of which I spent trial-and-error adjusting the water temperature, I came out partially refreshed. I never found the light switch button. Fully automated.

I noticed that people don't swim in the lakes here. This was the second big lake I'd visited. But here they fish right from the pier, there's a fisherman's hut where you can eat, buy souvenirs and sit at a table in the warmth in front of a huge plasma TV telling other guests about your catch. You can also rent a boat, 500 yen for half an hour. I used the latter option.

— What do you have for dinner tonight? — Noodles and a can of tuna. — Want to try my soup? — Japanese? — No, Italian The same Japanese woman invited me to taste the soup.

In the morning I got up fully ready to reach Asahikawa. Back at Nariko's reception I had sent a couple of messages on couchsurfing and didn't know the response. I'd be in Asahikawa around five o'clock, and only there could I check my email.